Mali rebels free Spanish man abducted by bandits in Algeria hoping to sell him to IS group
A coalition of separatists in Mali, the Azawad Liberation Front, on Tuesday said it had freed a Spanish national kidnapped by a group of bandits in Algeria. The kidnappers had hoped to sell him to the Islamic State (IS) group in Mali but were stopped before they could hand him over. An elderly Austrian woman kidnapped in Niger at around the same time is believed to already have been transferred to an IS group offshoot in Mali.
A rebel alliance in Mali said Tuesday announced it had negotiated the liberation of a Spanish man who was kidnapped in southern Algeria last week.
The Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, a coalition of separatist armed groups in Mali’s predominately Tuareg north, said on X that it freed Spanish citizen Gilbert Navarro.
“The former Spanish hostage, Mr. Navarro Giane Gilbert, has been released by the FLA and is in good health,” said Mohamed Maouloud Ramaadan, a spokesperson for the separatist movement.
Boubacar Sadigh Ould Taleb, the FLA’s communications officer, told The Associated Press that Navarro was kidnapped on January 17 by a “transnational mafia”, without identifying the group.
Wassim Nasr, FRANCE 24’s terrorist expert, said the group consisted of young bandits hoping to make money from the abduction. “They were answering a call made by the local Islamic State group to kidnap westerners,” he said.
Read more on FRANCE 24 English
Read also:
Niger suspends BBC radio for 'spreading false news' in report on jihadist attack
At least 20 killed in suspected Islamist attacks on villages in central Mali
German priest abducted in Mali in 2022 has been freed, officials say
